sonic foundations
The Sonic Foundations routine is meant to provide low brass musicians with exercises that focus on the fundamentals of brass playing accompanied by rhythmically engaging backing tracks to reinforce a strong sense of time keeping (groove) that help you stay focused during the fundamentals portion of your daily practice. The full routine includes exercises (with backing tracks) for breathing, mouthpiece buzzing, tone production (long tones), flexibility, articulation, scale patterns/finger technique, chord studies/endurance drills, and warm-down/relaxation.
The exercises in the routine can be used in individual practice sessions, lessons, group warm-ups, masterclasses, and sectionals.
Download .pdf and backing tracks
Play Along Videos
Breathing Exercises
1. Breathe to Expand
This exercise is meant to help musicians prepare their body to take the kinds of breaths necessary for low brass performance and can be a great way to start practice sessions.
The exercise follows a common breathing exercise format where the participant aims to fill their lungs completely with air without using unnecessary tension or force in the inhalation or exhalation. As the exercise progresses the inhalation time shortens while the exhalation time extends. As described in the backing track, try not to force the inhalation. Let your lungs and upper body expand naturally as you fill up as much as comfortably possible.
The voice heard throughout the exercise is the great tubist and pedagogue Arnold Jacobs.
2. Breathe without Friction
This breathing exercise alternates between exhaling through your instrument with no valves pushed down and exhaling through your instrument with all the valves pushed down to help simulate the resistance that you would experience while playing. I like to think of the word "HOW" for inhalation and "TOO" for exhalation in order to simulate the vowel shapes that I use while playing the instrument.
The title for the exercise comes from an exercise in Mark Reynolds' "Sing, Buzz, Blow, Play" which is available here: https://www.duncanmusicpress.com/sing-buzz-blow-play
To maximize the effects of this breathing exercise, do your best to completely empty your lungs during your exhalations and focus on smooth transitions between inhalation in exhalation. As with other breathing exercises, do not force your inhalations or exhalations. Try your best to stay relaxed and do not induce excess muscular tension.
The voice heard throughout the exercise is the great tubist and pedagogue Arnold Jacobs.
3. Rhythmic Breathing
This breathing exercise alternates between exhaling through your instrument with no valves pushed down and exhaling through your instrument with all the valves pushed down to help simulate the resistance that you would experience while playing. I like to think of the word "HOW" for inhalation and "TOO" for exhalation in order to simulate the vowel shapes that I use while playing the instrument.
The title for the exercise comes from an exercise in Mark Reynolds' "Sing, Buzz, Blow, Play" which is available here: https://www.duncanmusicpress.com/sing-buzz-blow-play
To maximize the effects of this breathing exercise, do your best to completely empty your lungs during your exhalations and focus on smooth transitions between inhalation in exhalation. As with other breathing exercises, do not force your inhalations or exhalations. Try your best to stay relaxed and do not induce excess muscular tension.
The voice heard throughout the exercise is the great tubist and pedagogue Arnold Jacobs.